Baa Baa Black Sheep

Black Sheep Squadron is a series that is fascinating to watch, over and over. I first started watching it on the History Channel and have numerous tapes that are wearing out from use. These are quite interesting since they contain the comments of the original Black Sheep members, as well as some by Conrad.

The stories, for the most part, are quite interesting and the acting is top-notch. Conrad is a seasoned actor going back many years and does very well in all sorts of roles, including this one. Clyde Kusatsu in his role as a captured Zero pilot was believable and has been in many other movies since. The regulars...Dana Elcar, Robert Ginty, W. K. Stratton, Simon Oakland, James Whitmore, Jr. were well-placed in their roles.

Set in the South Pacific during World War Two, the series dealt with a squadron of US pilots known as the Black Sheep (called such due to the fact most were misfits and disciplinary cases before joining the outfit). The best part of the series were the aerial combat sequences; using a mix of archived material from the war, newly filmed sequences, and superbly edited tapings of radio transmissions, the producers made it seem like you were up there in the sky with the squadron in the encounters with the Japanese. On the ground, the dramatic scenes were often done just as well; you got to realize that even though the squadron was made up of screwballs they behaved as a unit and worked as a team to make it through whatever came up.

Later episodes in the series tend to be rather lacking in entertainment value. The addition of "Pappy's Lambs" - a group of nurses assigned to the island - was probably meant to help ratings, but at the same time the focus started to swing towards them and away from the war against the Japanese, which had been the backbone of the more successful earlier episodes. The overall writing of the series seems to have deteriorated as the show got towards the end of its run as well.

While mixed in quality through its run, the show is definitely worth watching, if nothing else for the Corsairs that were restored to be used on the show - great aircraft!

The "Whistling Death" F4U Corsair planes are the actual stars of this movie, the best combat planes ever with killing ratio 11:1 in their short times during 1943-1945. And VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron is just the legend Ace Squadron with high killing ratio (average 5+) during the pacific war with Pappy Boyington as great fighter and leader. I watched this series when I was a kid, and always in my memory ever since. I even collect the F4U Corsair model planes afterward. I am still trying to watch the FIRST episode the "Flying Misfits" a.k.a episode zero, so if anyone know how to get it kindly advice. This is a good series of the pacific war, yes it dramatized and fictionalized events, but it is very nice to see many REAL Corsairs in formation! Great respect to Pappy Boyington and VMF-214 for your great dedication, you folks did a great job!

The tales of Boyington's Black Sheep may not have been the most historically accurate, best written, or even best acted WW II series on television.

What it WAS, however, was an entertaining hour in front of the tube, with a likable cast & easy to like/care about characters.

The Bellisaro hand in the casting in easy to see, with a number of familiar faces that returned to become regulars or recurring characters on Magnum P.I.

In short, a usually enjoyable show that never failed to deliver exactly what you expected from it.

While the Movie and T.V. show did have some inaccuracies it did provide a thrilling show that I love to this day. When I was small I would sneak up to my room just so I could See "Pappy" and the "Black Sheep" Squadron every week and since as an adult have become intensely interested in history and the role that these true American heroes played in making this a free country. I wish that everyone could see this show.